Anti-Hero | Tim Bradford

Chapter Seven - Waiting

True to his word, Tim held back and stayed in an unmarked vehicle down the street from the house that the cartel were using as a basis of their operation. It was the same one that Tim and Morgan had raided only three years prior. Even he could admit that it was almost poetic that it was on this property, three years ago, his and Morgan's fate had been decided by Regina Diaz, and it would be here that their fate would be unsealed. It had come full circle, almost anyway: Tim was in no position for a premature celebration. So he and Chen watched and waited as they had been told to do.

"Tim...?" Lucy said, timid as she was when she had first become his rookie. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, boot."

She pulled at her collar, trying to pick the right words. She knew that Tim could be prickly and defensive at the best of times, so today his guard would be up tenfold. However, she could also see right through the walls he worked so hard to keep up. "You know, it's okay to be nervous. Considering how drastically things have changed these last few days."

"Why would I be nervous? I trust Morgan, she's smart, she has survived this long."

"Then why haven't you put your wedding band back on?"

Tim didn't respond, instead he turned away from Lucy's concerned looks and towards the house. The rest of the team assigned to the raid had not shown up yet, they weren't scheduled to come until the primary watch team gave the command. The primary team were in a van on the opposite side of the street, parked only a hundred yards away from him and Chen. They were almost directly in front of the house, waiting to see if any form of action began before the police troops arrived.

If Tim had been in that van like he had wanted to have been, he would have seen a figure in a dark hoodie move around the side of the house and down the patch of grass that leads to the backyard. He would have flagged it up as suspicious, he would have recognised the hoodie as one of his own, the one that Morgan always stole from him. He would have noticed her entering the grounds.

"I didn't-" Tim started, stopping when the words got stuck in his throat. He looked back to Chen who smiled softly, nodding her head to allow him to continue. "I didn't put the ring back on because if this goes wrong today, I don't think I would have the strength to take it off again."

—--

As the sun began to go down, the radio in between Tim and Lucy finally sounded out with Harper's voice as she gave the order for the operation to begin. Within seconds, police officers from multiple Wilshire divisions appeared, some on foot and others in their shops. Two SWAT teams approached shortly after. Their synchronised movements were something to gawk at as they silently fell into formation to breach the property. From where they had parked their car, Tim could see Lopez, West, and Nolan leading the front of the operation alongside Sargent Grey.

It didn't take long for the signal to breach the property, when he heard the command go out of the radio, Tim held his breath for a second before closing his eyes. In all of his years on the force, or even before during his time serving in the Marine Corp, he had never felt so nervous, so out of control.

"Tim, you need to breathe, it's going to be okay." Lucy placed her hand on her Training Officer's shoulder. His eyes snapped open. In that moment, Lucy saw something change in his eyes, the panic that encompassed him only a few moments prior had disappeared.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. You got the best cops in the city going in there right now. It will be okay, you have to trust that."

"How can I? Last time we were here, we thought it was okay. Look what happened!"

"Tim, they will call us in when they have secured the place."

Bradford turned to respond but was interrupted by the sound of bullets being shot. Instinctively, the two patrol officers reached for their weapons in case they needed to pursue anyone. Moments later, the radio rang out again. This time it was Lopez speaking. "I need multiple RA units to my location. We have casualties, three not conscious, not breathing; we also have one identified female, police detective, gunshot to shoulder, not wearing a vest. She is conscious and breathing."

Before Angela had finished giving the report on the radio, Tim was out of the car, sprinting towards the house, gun still in hand. His mind was going a mile a minute, he knew that everybody who was a part of the bust today would have been wearing a bullet-proof vest. The only police personnel who would have been without one would have been Morgan. She would not have had the resources to get one beforehand, she would have gone in without one.

Air got stuck in his throat as he breached the property line and burst through the front doors. He barely noticed Chen running behind him as he began to sweep the property for Morgan. It did not take long for him to find her.

She was surrounded by multiple cops, some were searching for something that could aid her until the RA unit arrived, others stood back watching her from where she was crumpled to the ground. Tim barged his way through the crowd, falling to his knees at her side. He barely registered Angela next to him, holding some scrap material into Morgan's shoulder to stop the bleeding.

His eyes darted all over her form, looking for more injuries. He didn't notice anything major, except from a few scratches on her face. He then focuses on her shoulder, he couldn't see the wound under Angela's hands but he saw how her blood had spread down her arm and soaked into her jacket and shirt. He saw how the blood stained her already red hair a darker crimson colour.

He tentatively reached down to move the hair spread across her face, "Hey baby. It's okay, I've got you. It's going to be okay." He tried to reassure her, but as the words spilled from his mouth he knew that his words were for him also, to remind himself that she was here, that she was real. He was not going to leave her side, not now, not ever.

Morgan slowly turned her head to face her husband as she heard his voice for the first time in two years. He looked older, the lines in his face had set in. The crease between his eyebrows had grown, but his eyes were the same. She never thought that she would see them again, she never thought that she would see Tim again at all.

"Tim..." Morgan tried to speak but her words were cut off by blood rising through her throat. She choked it back down again with a pained expression. Before she tried to speak again, her eyes rolled back into her head as she succumbed to unconsciousness.